Student makes terroristic threats

February 28, 2018

MUNCY - A 16-year-old female student was arrested and removed from the Muncy Area Junior-Senior High School lasr Wednesday morning for allegedly making threats "to shoot up the school," according to borough police Chief James Dorman.

Referring to the Valentine's Day mass shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in which 17 people were slain, the student told several students that she thought how "funny it was" and remarked "I hope Muncy gets shot up it would be funny," Dorman said, quoting the teen's statements.

She told the students that she was "going to be the shooter," the chief added.

The student, whose name was not released because of her age, made the statements on a school bus while the students were on their way home from school on Friday afternoon, Dorman said.

Patrolman Raymond Kontz III, who assisted with the investigation, said "this was not something the students overheard. She was talking to specific students."

Dorman said investigators first learned of the threatening remarks on Wednesday morning when "several students" informed Patrolman David Williams, the school's resource officer, of a particular student who allegedly made the statements.

Dorman contacted the District Attorney's Office as well as the county's Juvenile Probation Office regarding the statements.

"The decision was made to charge the teen with terroristic threats, a third-degree felony. She was immediately removed from the school, arrested and is being detained in a juvenile detention facility," Dorman said.

Classes were not interrupted nor was the school ever locked down, Kontz said.

"The girl's parents are being very helpful and cooperative," Kontz said, adding that investigators found no evidence that the teen could in any way carry out the threats.

Why the student allegedly made the threats remained a mystery as the investigation was ongoing, Kontz said.

Dorman said "the police department will take all threats like this seriously and will work in cooperation with the Muncy school district, the District Attorney's Office and other agencies to ensure and provide a safe and protected environment for our students on a daily basis."